food4thought - Nash & The Sneakergame

With the sneakergame becoming ever so popular these last couple of years, we've seen a large surge in the number of resellers. Though resellers have always been in the game, we've seen a larger number of these individuals spring up who aren't necessarily sneakerheads. In most cases these individuals serve as sneaker brokers, picking up their stock at cost and quickly turning them for a profit.

It is human nature to try to maximize our personal gain/benefit when the opportunity presents itself. Thus we experience Nash's Equilibrium in the sneakergame. Nash's Equilibrium is defined as, "Nash equilibria are sets of strategies for players in a noncooperative game such that no single one of them would be better off switching strategies unless others did."

Let me explain this theory with a practical example:

When Nike announced that the Air Yeezy was slated to release in limited quantities over the world a large buzz/hype was created. Sneakerbrokers instead of purchasing with the intent to own the sneaker, purchased them with the intent to sell. Once the sneaker was sold out, all brokers increased the price of the sneaker with the intent of making a large substantial profit. Now you may ask how Nash's theory applies to this phenomenon. In a perfect world, "Broker A" and "Broker B" would acquire the Yeezy and sell it at face value. However, "Broker A" understands there is demand for the Yeezy and assumes that "Broker B" will sell the sneaker at face value and will charge a higher value to increase his overall benefit. "Broker B" also assumes the same thing and increases his price for the sneaker. Thus increasing the overall price of the sneaker for the end customer.

When there is a large presence of brokers in the game, the end customer always loses. One would assume that with more brokers the consumer would be better of butthis is not the case when brokers/resellers are only acting in their personal best interests.

Don't be surprised when you notice this phenomenon with the Cool Grey XI and Doernbecher III drops later this year. Atleast now you can put a name to it...

beatdown

Although the brothers are off doing their own thing, here two classic joints you know you were bumpin too back in day!

If you're a fan go and check out the LA Leakers X Clipse mixtape here

KSM: Nike Air Zoom Turf Jet

It's been a while since our last KSM but for this week's feature we're going back to another classic Nike shoe. Today we're gonna be talking about the Nike Air Zoom Turf Jet which was first released back in 1996.

The Nike Air Zoom Turf Jet features a predominately leather/suede upper with a clear outsole. The clear outsole features rubber nubs and can be seen throughout the outsole. The upper also features a velcro band that serves to stabilize the mid foot area. The most iconic aspect of this sneaker however is found on the mid sole of the shoe where a large piece of plastic is seen advertising the "Zoom Air" technology. Many of the OG sneakerheads will remember these as the signature shoe Brett Favre use to rock while on the Packers. Back in the mid to late 90's, Nike started releasing Turf shoes in the market due to the popularity of the NFL and their flagship stars like Deion "Primetime" Sanders. Although not originally designed for street wear, many sneakerheads opted to rock these on the regular.

I remember seeing these at Sports Authority when I was growing up and thinking they were pretty cool. I remember they were expensive and that my parents told me that they wouldn't be very comfortable since they weren't meant to be worn as everyday shoes.

Did you own a pair of these? Would you cop a pair if they were retroed again?

Image via: NikeTalk